Might as well make my first 14-er, the highest in the lower 48! Glorious day in the Sierras before the smoke filled the valley the next day. The 99 switchbacks weren't bad at all, but I imagine if you're bothered by the altitude they could suck.

Beat the altitude as follows:
Day One: Camped at Ellery Lake CG near Tioga Pass (9500')
Day Two: Mount Dana-Mount Gibbs climb, camped at the Portal
Day Three: Chilled at Horseshoe Meadows
Day Four: Summited in 5.5 hours (bro-in-law Dimitri did in 4.5 hrs!)

7 hours and 25 minutes. Good weather and started before 5 am. Returned before 6pm. The hot shower at the store was worth the $3. It was strange how my brain switched on with a piece of hard candy after trail crest. I didn't realize how much my brain had slowed until that Jolly Rancher hit my tongue.

Day hiked the MR with 2 friends. Their first time up Whitney. My 4x made all the better with friends. Very busy in the chute lots of people knocking rocks loose. Took the main trail back and tagged Mt Muir on the way.

Dayhike as part of the '07 Sierra Challenge. First climbed Russell then Whitney's north face before descending via the Whitney Trail. The north face was a very decent route, some fun class 3, and far better than the switchback hell of the main trail.

Have climbed Whitney ever way possible - back side, standard route winter/dry, East Buttress, East Face, Mtneers Route in winter... I would have to say it is time to move on:) Somehow I always end up back there - crazy!

Hello...i'm planning on climbing with 3 buddies in June...we are thinking about going up the CottonWood Pass to the summit and then come down Mt. Whitney Trail...we are thinking of a 3 day trip...any thoughts? we are not avid climbers but are in shape.

About 55 miles round trip, we summitted from Guitar Lake, leaving at 4am. It took our group 4hrs30mins to summit. I drank plently of water and ate continuously and had no altitude induced headache. The great trail made me yearn for more challenging routefinding. Fun trip with great guys. Pooping in a bag and carrying it for about 30 miles was an interesting experience.

Drove to California and back from Colorado (not recommended) to climb. Once on the mountain it was a great time. Camped at 12,000, and summited the next morning, all the way back to the lot for an awesome burger.

Time spent acclimatizing - 2 spent the previous night at 10,000 feet after arriving from San Francisco; the other two arrived the night before from SF and spent the night at the Dow Villa at 4,000 feet. So not much time.

Trail conditions - Excellent. There was no snow on the trail and scattered patches just off the trail. The weather was partly cloudy and it did rain a little on the way down, but it was quite refreshing and we were never threatened with lightning.

Time left in the morning - 3:45, arrived at the summit at noon and back off the mountain by 6pm.

Gear:
Since it was just for the day we packed light; our daypack size backpacks weighed in at about 25 lbs each. Most of us wore running shoes, light pants or shorts, thermal tops with another techfabric-esque shirt over that and brought a light windbreaker shell along as well.

We each had trekking poles, headlamps and 2 water filters in case one stopped working.

We also carried about 3-4 liters of water a person, usually in the form of a camelback / platypus or nalgene.

First time I used a GPS on the trail and it was awesome! Not for the positioning, but for the altitude. One of the questions everyone always has is what or when the next checkmark or ‘rest area’ is going to be. With the altimeter it’s easy to tell exactly where you are and estimate how much longer it’s going to be until you’re there. Especially heading off the mountain it’s easy to believe you’re much closer than you actually are; it helped there the most. I highly recommend it.

Food:
The usual bars, gels and beef jerky; as well as apples, peaches, bananas, sandwiches and a full bag of pink&white animal cookies (everyone we came across was jealous until we stated handing them out).

Notes:
I’ve climbed the Main Trail three previous times in various conditions, and this was probably the best condition this trail has been in. Free from snow and well maintained, it was very straightforward. Plenty of water in the lakes and streams. One important note is the solar toilets are no longer there, so plan ahead.

Of the group, I was the only that had climbed it before; two others were avid cyclists and another was a triathlete and marathoner. It was a excellent group of very motivated individuals. We started the morning at a good pace with breaks almost once every fifteen minutes and held up well to Trailcamp at 12,000 feet.

Once at Trailcamp we started to notice one person starting to have difficulties with the altitude. He complained of headaches, nausea, mild hallucinations and somewhat blurred vision. All of it was stated in a half-joking manner and although we asked if he wanted to rest or head down, he felt confident he could continue. We watched him carefully from that point on. His pace was very slow, his balance was off, but he was drinking water and eating food well, so we let him continue. Although our pace was slower, we all did reach the summit. There, another member of the group reported headaches and nausea and could not even eat because he felt so sick; however he too was very happy to be at the summit.

After a 15 minute rest up top, we turned around and headed back down to Trailcamp. Everyone was starting to feel much better. We rested there for another 30 minutes to refresh our water and then booked off the mountain at a brisk pace.

Learning experiences:
1. I’m never going to wear running shoes again on this trail. Although they are fast and light, and I didn’t need the ankle support; after stepping on x number of pointed rocks or stone my arches were killing me. I still prefer fast and light to a boot, so I’m going to look for some trail runner with a vibram sole or something similar.
2. 3:45am is a great time to start.
3. Carbon trekking poles rock.
4. Having an altimeter or GPS rocks.

Made it up the trail about a mile from the summit when weather turned us back. We missed the weather window by about 1/2 hour.
Next time we will leave earlier and move faster! Now we have a good excuse to go back :-)

Base camped at Trail Camp, which make acclimatization much easier, then summited early on day two, before descending all the way out to the Portal. If it weren't so damn hard to secure a permit for this trip, I'd be back each and every year.

What an adventure! Did it as an overnight with Paul. Stayed at Trail Camp and summitted the next day. Didn't feel too good-first time on a peak that high. Headache, dizzy, nauseated, but I made it. Even took time to find the geocache on top. Beautiful weather--warm, sunny, light breeze, perfect. Exciting! Thanks, Paul. : )

My hiking partner and I left to hike the Main Whitney Trail at 2:15 AM, so we were basically ahead of the other day-hikers when we started. The infamous (but appropriated named) "99 Switchbacks" were more intense than I imagined, but the 900-foot "gain" from Trail Crest to the Summit is very misleading, and tiresome, as you first need to descend and then you travel by several peaks. Overall, it was a very cool hike and well worth the summit!